Railway tank-car.



. VAN DYKE.

RAILWAY TANK CAR.

APPLICATION FILED Nov.28, IsIoII.`

Patented Aug. 3, 1915.

f 12'; ma

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ang. 3, i915.

application tiled November 2S, 1908. erialNo. 464,947.

lie it known t a citizen ot the nit-ed States. residing at Philadelphia.county of Philadelphia and itate t lennsji'lyania. have invented certainnew and useful improvements in Railway 'l'ank-fars. oit which thefollowing is a specification.

'this invention relates to the provision ot heating apparatus in thetanks of cars for transporting liquids on ailways, more especially suchliquids as lubricating oils1 t'uel voils and other heavy petroleumvproducts which will not flow readily, it at all. at ordinaryatmospheric temperatures. lieretoiore the tank cars in which suchliquids have heen shipped have heen provided with steam heaters in orderthat the contents of the tanks may he `heated and so made more duid.when they are to he drawn oii' hy the usual drawoii pipes at the hottomsot' the tanks; hut. so Jfar as i am aware. every pr vision her fore madeorheating the contents or" railway tank cars has heen open to ohieetionon account of the liability 'the steam pipes composing the heaters al;at t. ints or to he loosened from to the walls of the tanks.

ions are largely at least overaid ot the present invention: in cordancewith which in its hest and most fplete forni a numher of steam pipes areonnected each at one end with a header and e t suliicientiy freeotherwise for them to Xpand and contract longittuiinally with changesci' temperature: while the header is secured to the "tank hottom hy aflanged hase. weich may he as large necessary for a permanent fastening(or as may he desired) and vin which are hestiormed the passages (one ormore) for the inflow of the st lam and the outliow o? the water orcondensation. The iianget. hase is also hest formed with a reducedportion hetween the flange and the hody ot" the header'. and the headeris best divided into two chamhers. one for steam and the other for thewater ot condensation. the 1former heing connected hy smaller insidepipes with the outer ends of the inclosing whose inner ends are indirect communication with the latter chamher; out niodicat-ion in theseand in other respects can he made so long as the suhstance is taken otany one or more of the claims at 'the end oi' this specification.

The invention also consists in part in certain particulars ofconstruction hereinafter set forth.

ln the accompanying drawings: Figure l is a view in verticallongitudinal and nearly central section of the tank of a railway tankcar. provided with heating apparatus in accordance with the invention inits best and most complete form; Figs. '2 and 3 are cross v sections ofthe same on lines A A and B B respectively of Fig. l. looking in thedirection ot' the arrows; Fig. fr is on a larger scale and is a planview of the header. hroken away near one end to show a portion inhorizontal section; and Fig. 5 is a vertical sect-ion on line C C ofFigs. l and 4. Fig. f3 is a detail view in section on line D D of Fig.4.

Vivithin the tank a. which is. as shown, of the customary cylindricalform and is to he mounted in a horizontal lposit-ion in any known orsuitahle way on wheeled trucks and provided with draft rigging (notshown) for movement on the rails of a rail.- way. there are a nmnher ofpipes con neeted each at one end with a header'c; which. as shown. liescross-wise of the tank. the pipes 7l running longitudinally of the same..\t their outer ends the pipes 7 arc closed. liest hy welding so as toavoid joints: and they are lett sulliciently t'ree to expand andcontract longitudinally. They are held from longitudinal movement hodilyhy their connection with the header c: which is fastened to thc tankhottom: and transverse motion ot' them is prevented l attachment tocross-hars fl. also secured to che tank hottom. liach pipe is lield h valoop c whose ends are fastened to the corresponding cross-hal' (Fig.Jl).

rl`he header c has a flanged hase. which at f. intermediate the flangef/ and the hody of the header. as compared with the latter. ol reducedarea in horizontal section. This construction is advantageous. in thatit. interposcs less ohstruction 'to the flow of the liquid contents ot'the tank to the draw-oil' pipe Il than a llanged hase of largerdimensions would do. and also it is helieved to lessen the stresses dueto the alternate heat ings and coolings which result when steam isapplied and cut o fl. Passages j for the inflow ot steam and Z' for theoutflow of water are formed iu this hase. within the circle ot rivets hywhich the header c is Jfastened to the tank bottom., There is.therefore, no danger of letting water into the oil in the tank byleakage at those places where l sist the shocks to which the car isexposed in running and in coupling. A tight joint around `the edge ofthe flange is made by calking.` As shown, the arms of the header cproject from the base on opposite sides of the latter. 4

The header is shown as divided into two chambers by means of thepartition m parallel with the flange g of the base f and transverse tothe passages j Zr in said base. rl`his partition m forms the floor ofone chamber and a part of the roof of the other chamber. The passage/f.communicates by means of the latter chamber with the pipes b on oppositesides of the header. Asshown in Fig. 5, the horizont-al partition mslopes downward toward the passage j; so that any condensation in theoverlying chamber will lowtoward said passage j; which opens into saidoverlying chamber. rl'he chambers are each provided with tlireadedopenings; which openings are'ot different diameters and are placed asmall hole r behind each larger ones, but ecce'ntric with reference'thereto. As shown, the front and rear 'walls of the upper chamber (seeFig. 4) opposite the openings a are cui-red inward, so that .spaces arethere shown (see also lfigs. l and 6) between the walls in which theopenings r are formed and those in which the' openings,l are located.such spaces constituting in ell'ect extensions upward of the lowerchamber. The larger holes receive the ends' of pipes L. which arescrewed fast therein, best inclined so as to drain toward the header.The smaller holes receive the ends of pipes n, which are inclosed withinpipes and are open at their outer ends within the latter and which arebest inclined to drain away from the header.

At y is shown a nipple for attachment of a pipe (not shown and notordinarily a part of the car) for connection with a source of steam t'orheating. pipc for the water ot' condensation.

ln use the tank a is filled with the liquid to be transported. As thiswould be in a fluid condition, the pipes l; can be left empty andunconnected with as0urce of steam. In transportation it would not be-ncccssary to keep tho liquid fluid. llut, of

coursc. tonnel-tion with a source of steam could be made at cithcr orboth of these times, if dcsircd. empty the tank ofe its contents. thenipple 71 is connectwi with a steam supply pipe. The steam flows throughpassage j] .into the uppcr chamber and is delivered by the small pipesn, hito the far ends of the pipes 7;. lil

these the stcam conde-uses in imparting heat At l/ is shown a draintherein a header,

When it is desired tol to the contents of tank a by conduction throughthe walls of pipes b; and the water of condensation flows back to theheader c and is discharged by pipe q; with which latter a pipeleading'to anyde-sired place mav be connected. 0n account of theinclination of the pipes I; and a, and the connection of the passages jand l.' with the bottoms of their corresponding chambers, no water needstand in the heating apparatus to be a source of danger by freezingtherein.

l claim as my invention or discovery:

l. The tank of a railway tank car, having therein a header which isprovided with means for establishing an outside pipe connection in orderto introduce fluid into the` interior of said header and has a drainagepassage f'or the discharge' of liquid from the header and which ismounted on and upheld by a single support in the form of a flanged bascsecured b v its flange to the tank, and also having therein a'number ofpipes which are connected with said header at one end and are closed andleft tree at the other end so as to expand and contract longitudinally,substantially as described.

il'. 'l`hc tank of a railway tank car, having thm-cina headerwhich isprovided with an alta/:hing flange and is secured by its flange to thetank bottom, and also having therein a number ot' pipes which are freeto expand and contract longitudinallj.Y and are conncctcd with saidheader, the tank bottom being perforated under said header for allowingan outside pipe connection to be made directliY with said header, andthe header being provided with means for establishingr an outside pipeconnection directly with said header. substantially as described.

3. The tank of a railway tank cai",.having therein a header which ismounted on and upheld bv a single support in the form' of a Y flangedbase `secured by its flange to the tank bottom, and also having thereina number of pipes which are free to expand and contract longitudinallyand are connected with said header, the tank bottom 'being perforatedunder said header for allowing an outside pipe connection to be madedirectly with said header, and the header being provided with means forestablishing an outside pipe connection directly with said header,substantially as described. I 4. The tank of a railway tank car, havingwhich vis provided with means for establishing' an outside pipeconnection in order to introduce fluid'into the interior of said headerand has a drainage passage for the discharge of liquid from theheaderand which is mounted on and upheld by a single support in the form of allanged baseand which comprises hollow arms projet-ting from oppositesides of said base and is secured by the flange of said .base to the insltank bottom with said arms extending crosswise of the tank, and alsohaving therein a number 'if longitudinally disposed pipes which areconnectedat one end with the arms of said header and are closed and left-free at the other end so as t0 expand and contract longitudinally,substantially as described.

5. The tank of a railway tank car, having therein a header which isprovided with a lianged base and is secured to the tank bottom by theflange of' said base and which is divided into chambers by a partitionparallel with the flange of said base and is formed with two sets ofopenings of di'erent diameter, and also having therein two sets ofhorizontal pipes of different diameter which are free to expand andcontract longitudinally and are disposed in horizontal rows and areAconnected with said header, the openings of smaller diameter receivinglthe pipes of `smaller diameter and being arranged each of them behind anopening of larger diameter, the openings ofr larger di- Y ameterreceiving the pipes of larger diameter, andthe pipes of larger diameterinclosing those of smaller diameter, substantially as described.

' 6. The tank of a railway tank car, having therein a header which isprovided with a iianged base and is secured to the tank bottom by theflange of said base and which is divided into chambers by a partitionparallel with the flange of said base and is formed with two sets ofopenings of different diameter, and also having therein two sets ofhori- Zontal pipes ot' different diameter which are free to expand andcontract"longitudinally and are disposedin horizontal rows and areconnected with said header, the openings of smaller diameter receivingthe pipes of smaller diameter and being arranged each ot them behind anopening of larger diameter, with its center above the center of thelatter., the openings ot' larger diameter receiving the `pipes of largerdiameter, and the pipes of larger diameter inclosing those of smallerdiameter, substantially as described.

7. The tank of a railway tank car, having therein two sets ot pipes ofditlerent diameter, and a header with which said pipes are connected,said header having a ianged base and hollow arms projecting from saidbase on opposite sides of the latter and being divided into chambers bya partition parallel with the flange of said base and formed with twosets ot' openings of different diameter forreceiving the ends of the twosets of pipes respectively, and each of the smaller openings beingplaced eccentrically behind one of the larger openings, substantially asdescribed. f

8. The tank of a railway tank car, having thereinpipes and a header withwhich said pipes are connected, said header having a flanged base andhollow arms projecting from said base on opposite sides of the latterand being divided into chambers by a partition parallel with the iangeof said base and being formed with two sets or" openings for receivingthe ends ot' the pipes, and each of said chambers being provided withone set of said openings, substantially as described. n

9. The tank of a railway tank car, having therein a header with flangedbase secured by its base flange to the tank bottom and also havingtherein a number of pipes which are connected with said header and arefree to expand and contract Alongitudinally, the tank bottom beingperforated under said header and the latter having pas1 sages whichterminate at dii'i'erent levels inside ot' the header and open into thespace outside the tank through that part of the tank bottomwhiclrumlerlies said header, substantially 'as described.

10. The tank of a railway tank car, having therein a header with aflanged base and hollow arms secured by its base iiange to the tankbottom in such manner that the said arms extend crosswise of the tank,and also having therein a number of pipes which are disposed lengthwiseof said tank and connected with said header arms and are free Vto expandand contract longitudinally, the tank bottom being perforated under saidheader and the latter having passages which terminate at differentlevels inside of the 'header and open into the space outside theWitnesses:

W. D. ANDERSON, l. W. RIsH.

lOS

